Marshawn
Lynch v. STL: The Seahawks are always the talk of the town in
my little slice of the world, the lovely Pacific Northwest, but
they’ve gained a more national audience of late. That happens when
you AVERAGE over 50 points in your last three games, the most recent
42 at the expense of San Francisco’s seemingly stalwart defense.
Russell Wilson’s getting most of the pub (for good reason) and Pete
Carroll’s deflecting most of the credit (unconvincingly), but if
you want to know what powers the Hawks’ supersonic attack these
days, look no further than workhorse Marshawn Lynch. All the Bills’
castoff has done in these three impressive blowouts is average just
north of 117 yards per and score six touchdowns. That’s good for
an average of almost 25 fantasy points per game, better than every
other running back during that span, Adrian Peterson included. Here’s
the even more impressive part: Lynch has accomplished that feat
despite carrying the ball more than THIRTY fewer times than Minnesota’s
meal ticket. If All Day is the top start at RB for Week 17 – and
you’ll find basically nobody who says he isn’t – Mr. Lynch isn’t
far behind. Don’t hop off this gravy train until you’re sporting
that championship belt.

BenJarvus
Green-Ellis v. BAL: The Seahawks have parlayed their
recent success into a shot, albeit an outside one, at the NFC West
division title. Cincinnati lost their miniscule shot at an AFC North
crown last week when the Ravens plastered the Giants in Baltimore,
meaning they’ll have literally nothing to play for in Week 17. That
means you should probably sit The Law Firm down, right? Conventional
wisdom suggests so, but Marvin Lewis has gone on record as saying
he doesn’t think it would be wise to rest his starters now that
the Bengals are riding a wave of momentum into the second season.
He’s basing that decision, of course, on prior experience (2005
and 2009), when he decided to do the opposite (rest his studs),
only to watch his teams crash and burn in the postseason. More recently,
Mike McCarthy’s Pack suffered a similar fate following a wildly
successful 2011 regular season (15-1). Lewis didn’t get to be one
of the league’s longest-tenured coaches by following conventional
wisdom and ignoring recent experience. He’ll have his first-teamers
ready to roll this Sunday, BJGE included.

Shonn
Greene @ BUF: I don’t play in leagues that extend championship
matchups to Week 17, but if I did, I’d have trouble trusting running
backs playing for crummy non-contenders. I mean, their teams are
crummy non-contenders for a reason, right? Plus, you can’t count
on maximal effort or guys playing through injuries in that final
week. In fact, you can’t count on much of anything at precisely
the time of year you most need something to count on…except maybe
this: the Buffalo defense. No team has given up more fantasy points
to opposing running backs this season than the Bills. No team has
given up more rushing yards than the Bills. No team has given up
more rushing touchdowns than the Bills. Basically, the Buffalo Bills
are the gift that keeps on giving in 2012 and there isn’t a more
favorable matchup for your rock-toters this weekend. You certainly
can’t trust the Jets passing attack (read: circus), so why not place
some faith in the resurgent Greene? After all, he might be the reason
you’re still playing (20 points in Week 16).

Grab a Gatorade

Chris
Johnson v. JAX: I’ve had a complicated relationship with Mr.
Johnson this season. If I were smart, I’d let last week’s recommended
sit be the last thing you remember and walk smiling into the 2012
sunset. Of course, if I were smart, I wouldn’t be slaving away
the day after Christmas writing a fantasy column that might (MIGHT!)
be read by ten people. Johnson has a seeming dream matchup in
the final week of the regular season against Jacksonville’s abominable
run defense (almost as bad as Buffalo’s). What he doesn’t seem
to have, however, are teammates that give a hoot about playing
football right now. It’s an emotional game that rewards effort
and intensity and severely punishes laziness and lack of focus.
If you watched the Titans sleepwalk through their 55-7 drubbing
in Lambeau last Sunday, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
You also know Tennessee’s gridders are going through the motions
for an owner they’ve probably dismissed as crazy and a coach they’ve
likely discerned is soon to be history. I doubt they’ve carried
you this far, anyway, but if they have, sit your Titans down this
Sunday.

Ryan
Grant, Alex
Green, or DuJuan
Harris @ MIN: I often use football players and other
well-known athletes as passwords for the various websites and
bank accounts I access on the internet. I consider them easier
to remember than the birthdates and pet names and such which people
typically use for that purpose. Grant has been featured as one
of my passwords for several years now and I actually got to thinking
earlier this season that I should probably rotate him out since
he’s no longer a relevant Packer. Ha! How’d that turn out, Shot
Caller? Even a long-time fan such as myself couldn’t have been
more surprised at the former Domer’s reemergence this past couple
weeks. And yet, no matter how much I’d like this story to end
with a bye-clinching, 20-carry, 100-yard, multiple-TD performance
in the Metrodump on Sunday…yeah, that’s not gonna happen. The
Vikings need a W too and are playing high-quality football right
now. Plus, Alex Green has been given a full green light to return
to action this Sunday. I’m guessing the Pack will return to a
committee approach and that Grant’s Week 16 effort will look like
nothing more than his Green Bay swan song by early 2013.

LeSean
McCoy @ NYG: Like his backfield buddy, Mike Vick, McCoy has
been cleared for action just in time for one last meaningless
game in a season that was, unfortunately, full of them. Unlike
Mr. Vick, however, McCoy will have to share touches with perhaps
the Eagles’ only bright spot of the otherwise depressing
2012 campaign, Bryce Brown. Brown hasn’t been very good
of late, for sure, but he was pretty special a couple weeks back
and the soon-to-be-deposed Andy Reid is still likely to share
the wealth so as not to jeopardize anyone’s overall health
in a game that, at best, can only end up a moral victory for him
and his troops. If you held on to McCoy, hoping he’d swoop
in and save the day come Week 17, you might want to reconsider
giving him the nod. Yes, it makes for a good story but it doesn’t
make sound fantasy football sense. Plus, nobody remembers who
almost won league championships. Ask somebody if they remember
Andy Reid twenty years from now.